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To answer your question: HTC Sense/Samsung Touchwiz/Motorola Blur are simply an Android OS "overlay" which provides new features such as widgets, launcher variances, icons, additional menu/syncing functionality, and visual eye candy. These "overlays" are developed and added by each device manufacturer making their devices unique from one another. To date, HTC Sense has shown to provide the most added anhancements and visual appeal but at the cost of memory and processor consumption. Not bad but it does use more resources.

It's all a matter of user preference. There is no clear winner or loser when it comes to Android OS overlays, but many will argue otherwise. I personally love HTC Sense because it adds more features and cool widgets. Many like the stock vanilla Android that has little or no added overlays from device manufacturers. Since you are new to the smartphone world, you will not go wrong with any high-end smartphone, especially the Photon or HTC EVO. It's all personal preference and what you need in a smartphone. At this time the Photon and the HTC EVO 3D are the top two devices. Either phone will be a great choice. I personally get a much better signal and data connection with my Photon compared to all three of my HTC EVO's, one being a 3D. Sad but true.